Snow in remote cabin solar setup

We got up to our remote cabin over the weekend that we had not been to in 4 months. Before shutting down cabin for winter, we had disconnected all loads knowing that extreme winter cold, lots of mountain snow and lack of sun (blocked by tree's and mountains to the south) would be tough on gathering solar power to keep batteries charged.

The 4 solar panels that provide the bulk of our power were completely covered in snow as you can see from the pictures of before and after we dug them out.

Very pleased to see that the 55 watt panel that we vertically mounted on a separate pole (to shed snow) provided just enough juice to keep the batteries full charged. The Rogue MPPT-3024 history log showed it was catching 2-4 A-H every day to keep the system topped off.

I'm not sure what the average snowfall is in the area, but I'm guessing somewhere over 100 inches. I've heard someone mention over 200 inches a few years ago. We are at 9600 feet of elevation.

Here are some summer pictures, one close up of the solar panel in the summer shortly after we put it up. Another is a view looking down from an overlook where you can see the panels as well as the old harbor freight panels that have been taken down since then.

Really happy with the setup, even though its been cobbled together with used panels, a Rogue charger (love that thing), 4 golf cart batteries a few inverters, and a Trimetric battery monitor. We consume around 50-60 a-h per day when we are there and the panels/batteries work great to keep us with our minimal use.

Wow, Looks like you had 30"+ still on the ground, did you ski or snow mobile in?

We had a meer 18-20" of snow here in Mid Missouri a couple weeks ago and I was snowed in for 3 1/2 days! a fellow down the road had a heart attack and the National guard came in to take him out and they lost a transmision in the Humvee on the last hill going out... I ran out when they came back by the cabin just to wave at another human.

We ended up getting a dozer to clear the snow, problem was we had 1/2 inch of ice on the roads first so our backhoe and regular 4wds were useless. We're within an inch or so of the heaviest snow year ever here and that's just around 45".

Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites, Midnite E-panel, Prosine 1800 and Exeltech 1100, 660 ah 24v ForkLift battery. Off grid for @16 of last 17 years. Assorted other systems, and to many panels in the closet to not do more...lol

Wow, Looks like you had 30"+ still on the ground, did you ski or snow mobile in?

We had a meer 18-20" of snow here in Mid Missouri a couple weeks ago and I was snowed in for 3 1/2 days! a fellow down the road had a heart attack and the National guard came in to take him out and they lost a transmision in the Humvee on the last hill going out... I ran out when they came back by the cabin just to wave at another human.

We ended up getting a dozer to clear the snow, problem was we had 1/2 inch of ice on the roads first so our backhoe and regular 4wds were useless. We're within an inch or so of the heaviest snow year ever here and that's just around 45".

We snowmobile'd in. We've also snowshoe'd in which is entirely doable. I've attached a couple more pictures from the front of the cabin and the outhouse and wood shed so you can see more images of the snow accumulation. We don't get much wind down in this valley.

Your experience in Missouri is amazing - all that snow in such a short time, then on top of a base of ice to boot. For many parts of the country its been a really tough winter. Colorado mostly just got some real cold weather. Can't wait for spring.

That is some serious snow, I assume one of the advantages of the log cabin construction is the ability to handle that snow load?

I chuckle when the news says how hard this winter has been. Our area gets - on the record - about 17" per year. We are 750' higher than the location of record (BWI airport) so we usually get more. Last year the official record was 77", we got closer to 90", which includes 48" received within 4 days (two 2' blizzards).

Last year was a hard winter. Happily this year our area is nearly normal.

with that much snow every year i would suggest to raise the pvs up a bit more to allow more clearance and possibly a way to steepen the over winter angle. the snow will slide off a bit better and youi'll still get plenty of power through the direct sun and reflected light off of the snow.

(Highlights the value of wall mounting a number of panels in remote sites where snow is an issue. No matter how much snow is on the roof, I have 150 watts charging from the wall mounts.)

Tony

Tony, I got the idea from reading one of your post on this forum. I've got that one single 50 watt panel setup in the winter with a 90 degree tilt and way off the ground to catch some sun rays thru the trees, then come summer I tilt it back to a more conventional summer tilt.

It is a life saver to keep some charge on the batteries thru the winter when the other panels get buried. The batteries seem to be fine even though it gets well below zero F.

What do you do to the roof to keep the snow on it? That's working as well as a flat roof.

In the winter months, the cabin hardly gets any direct sun. I'm guessing this is a big contributor to the snow just piling up and not shedding. Does this every year. I do worry about the snow load, but its been handling it for 30 years without a problem.

We were up this past weekend and got a chance to check on the snow, hoping more had melted, but there was still quite a bit although the panels were clear.

Batteries where in great shape from spending 4 months in deep freeze where temps dipped to 25 below zero F outside and minus 15 inside. I used the Rogue to equalize for 30 minutes to get rid of any stratified acid.

on observing the latest pic that snow is built up behind the pvs and could endanger the wires that are dangling beneath. maybe tie the wires off to prevent an unexpected disconnect or short.

Good observation on the risk of snow slide off the roof would possibly take out the wires behind the panels. I have extra slack in the wiring from the winter tilt which gets taken up during the summer when I change to summer tilt angle. I should have tied off the cables to remove that slack during winter months.

In hindsight, I'd have raised the panels even higher - something I might do if I get time this summer.

i thought my old place up in the mountains of Northern Ca and i thought we had a bad winter weather with all the snow and ice ..We kept the panels cleared of snow and they worked great all winter long with we had to shut down the wind turbine system a few time because of the wind gust up to 60 miles a hour..

If you think that is bad check out my place!! These winter pictures were taken 3/27/11 Have included one of the summer to have perspective. The one with my truck the snow pole is a 10foot pole! We got over 700 inches this year 4th biggest in recorded history since 1878.Attachment not found.

If you think that is bad check out my place!! These winter pictures were taken 3/27/11 Have included one of the summer to have perspective. The one with my truck the snow pole is a 10foot pole! We got over 700 inches this year 4th biggest in recorded history since 1878.

Looking at the snow pack I suspect that white water rafters, canoeists and kayakers will be salivating. The runoff this year will be tremendous. Hate to think of what the roads crews will have to fix...bridges, washouts etc.